Unexpected Side-Effects
by Quinis
Summary: Every test went smoothly so Lan had been blindsided when the first real issue popped up. It wasn't even caused by the device or program.


**Notes** : This is my first time posting a Megaman(exe) fanfiction. EXE is my favourite version of Megaman and I recently got right back into the fandom; art, stories, games, everything (I love the games, the battle style is so unique). Anyway, I started chatting with the mun of the neatsaviors tumblr RP blog (who beta'd this story for me) and happened to mention a couple of ideas I have. One of which is a headcanon (in short: Megaman's scared of ghosts because he technically died as 'Hub') which then lead into this story via a roller-coaster train of thought. Check out neatsaviors if you like, it's a currently updating ask blog for Megaman and Lan.

English names in this one just because. And this is technically a future fic.

I'm working on the next chapter of the Batman Talon story. It'll be next to update for those waiting for it.

* * *

 **Unexpected Side-Effects**

* * *

The typing of keys was the only sound in the small office. A PET sat on the table, a strange chip protruding out of it. It was larger than the slot but could still be read as information spread out along the computer screen.

"What do you think?" the young researcher said to the navi in the PET. "Can you execute the file?"

"Seems so," a voice responded with barely constrained excitement.

The researcher took one last look at the block sticking out of the chip. It was smooth and tinted blue. It was both a battery and a device similar to a radio. Or TV. Or a microwave. It produced waves.

"Okay, on my count. Three, two, one-"

"Pulse-Out Program execute!" two voices said together. The program executed and the researcher watched as data filled his screen.

The screen on the PET lit up for a moment before the chip started flashing. Slowly, bits of light condensed into bits of data. Bits of data shifted and condensed into a growing body. Slowly a navi emblem on a shirt appeared and spread out into brown strands of hair atop a head to white soles on blue shoes.

Green eyes opened, flashed for a moment and then faded to brown.

The researcher's mouth dropped open.

"Uh, oh dear."

"What?" Megaman asked, looking at his hands. He touched his emblem which appeared like a logo on his shirt and then pat himself down. "This was not what I was wearing."

"Okay, so the reader we put in to make your data appear more physical may have worked differently than intended," Lan commented nervously.

Megaman ran a hand through his hair, nerves running through his gut at the realisation that he wasn't wearing his helmet. "What do you mean?" he asked in a stressed tone.

"You know how navis are now programmed with a digital equivalent to DNA?" Megaman gave Lan a flat stare as he nodded for his brother to go on. Of course he knew that, he was the reason their father even began looking at a digital equivalent to DNA. "The reader I designed reads the digital DNA and recreates its physical equivalent."

Megaman had a sudden sinking feeling. His data was recreated from DNA which was an identical match for Lan. He grabbed the nearest reflective surface, which happened to be a computer screen and stared at himself.

"I look like you!"

Lan laughed quietly at his shocked reaction. "Hopefully this doesn't cause any confusion around the office... Hub."

A slow grin came to Megaman's face. This had worked better than they thought.

"Let's finish this test."

* * *

The chip was inserted and the file was executed. Hub appeared in front of Lan, their grins mirroring each other's.

"Ready?" Lan asked.

Hub nodded. "Ready."

Lan grabbed his brother's hand and led him out of the alleyway and onto the busy street. They didn't look out of place among the crowds as they made their way towards the restaurant.

Getting Hub to try food had been nerve-raking for the both of them. Lan wasn't sure what would happen or even if it would work since he hadn't programmed it in. Hub didn't really know what it would be like.

The first test had gone fine. There had been no side-effects, unless Hub spitting out the mineral water because it had been 'gross' counted. It turned out that the navi had slightly different tastes to his operator. Lan liked stuff with strong flavours while Hub, probably as a result of growing up as a navi without the need for food, preferred more bland flavours.

Lan had monitored Hub afterwards. There had been no ill effects and the only blip he noticed was an increase in Hub's stored power.

After a couple more tests within the lab, the twins had decided it was time for Hub to try curry.

* * *

"Oh, this _is_ good!"

Lan laughed. "See?" He reached over with his own spoon, only for Hub to slap his hand.

"Hands off my curry." Lan pulled his hand back and pouted. Hub rolled his eyes. "Just order your own, Lan."

* * *

Chaud walked into the small Scilab office to find the brown haired researcher sleeping at his desk.

"What do you think he was working on?" Protoman asked from the PET at Chaud's waist.

"I don't know and I don't care," Chaud responded sharply. "Either way, he forgot our meeting. Lan, wake up!"

The man stirred. His brown eyes opened and he stared at Chaud curiously for a few moments before sitting up with a yawn.

"What time is it?"

"Three thirty. We were supposed to meet at three." Chaud felt his frustration grow as all he received in response was a confused look and a slow blink. "What do you have to say for yourself, Lan Hikari?"

"I'm not Lan," the stranger said. Chaud frowned and stepped back. Either the stranger was right or Lan had gone insane.

"You look exactly like him."

"Twins usually do."

Twins? But... Chaud felt his jaw drop.

"Hub?" Protoman questioned from the PET.

"Hi, Protoman," Hub said with a smile and wave, angling himself to try and see the PET screen.

"How?" Chaud questioned. Hub looked up at him from the chair.

"Surprise? Lan managed to create a chip-program combination which works like the Pulse Transmission devices that send human consciousness to the net, except it does the opposite. It sends navis here."

"That's… impossible."

"Aren't you just using a copybot with a costume installed?" Protoman asked.

Hub rolled his eyes. This was not the first time someone had said that. "No. In a copybot, I couldn't eat. Plus, I was limited to the power supply of the 'bot. This doesn't have that issue. While current tests show I get tired after a while," one of the reasons they had walked in to find him sleeping, "we have also found that operating at minimal processing, using a sleep-mode to be precise, I can regain energy from the PET without the need to return."

"You mean, you can sleep?"

"Sort of, yes. Eating does something similar, although Lan hadn't figured out why. His current theory is that my body processes food into power, allowing it to store the energy output from the PET for later."

"Still impossible. How is the PET giving you power?" Chaud asked.

Hub looked for the PET to explain… but it wasn't on the desk. He checked under the desk, through the drawers and even pat his own pockets down. Slowly realisation dawned. No wonder he had felt so tired!

"Lan." He flatly cursed his brother. Lan had probably forgotten that he was out and taken the PET with him, wherever he had gone. They had found that Hub could compensate for the distance from the PET by using stored up charge and even syphoning what little he could from the buzz of technology around him. It was a strange phenomenon which Lan was studying because Hub shouldn't have been compatible with current net technology; the 'waves' they were using were a completely different system. It was good that Hub didn't burn through power as he would have in a copybot, otherwise he would had run out by now. No wonder he had fallen asleep!

"You're saying Lan forgot you? That doesn't seem like him," Protoman said.

Hub ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "It's happened a few times." The first time had involved numerous tests because Lan had been shocked when he had appeared fine after being separated from the PET across a distance. "If we both get distracted, then one of us goes off somewhere… let's just say there's an adjustment period when you're used to being attached at the hip."

There was a strange sound and both Chaud and Hub paused when they heard it.

Protoman had let loose a quiet bark of laughter. Chaud retrieved his PET and started at the navi, who coughed and composed himself.

"I apologise for my outburst," he said.

Hub chuckled and Chaud actually smiled.

"We should probably find Lan," Chaud said, his frustration at his friend fading. It did appear that Lan was working on something important. He was very interested in seeing where it went.

* * *

Finding Lan was as simple as calling him and calling Lan was simple. Hub pulled up a holographic window to run a call to his PET. It was like the ones navis often used in the net, except it was in the physical world.

"I did this accidentally once when I got lost in the WaterWorks," Hub explained.

"How did you get lost in the WaterWorks?" Protoman asked from the computer. Chaud had transferred him into there so he could see better. Mostly because he was worried that Hub might yank his PET out of his hands in order to talk to Protoman.

It seemed neither twin had much concept of personal space, the way Hub had been invading his.

"I was walking around and nothing looks the way it does on the net." In Hub's defence the two complexes were in the same building and he had been turned around by a rush of people getting off work.

Lan was surprised to be getting a call from his navi, although he figured it out quick enough.

"Hub! I left you behind again, didn't I?" Lan's gaze shifted off to the side, where he could just see Chaud. "Chaud! Why are you in Scilab? I thought we were meeting at-"

"Nevermind that. You've been working on something interesting."

Lan immediately panicked. "Oh no, you found the Gabcom papers. Look man, I need to freelance some of my work and Yai wanted some assistance in making her new multiplayer game compatible with navis so operators and navis could verse each other-"

Hub slapped his forehead. "Lan, you left those papers at home. You've been working on that project at home so you'd actually go home instead of working all day and night in the office. He was talking about me."

"Oh. Right."

"Just get back here."

* * *

Every test went smoothly so Lan had been blindsided when the first real issue popped up. It wasn't even caused by the device or program.

It was the hospital and Hub's own reaction to it. Chaud had worked himself right past sick and into the hospital. Lan laughed about it but Hub could see he was worried about his friend. Hub was even the one to suggest checking on Chaud after work. Protoman had also liked the idea. Even in hospital, Chaud was still working, although Protoman kept trying to remind him that work could wait.

Neither twin had could have guessed what Hub's reaction would be. After all, he had been inside the hospital before. He just had no way of knowing that the physical hospital possessed different stimulus to the virtual one.

He followed Lan in, his smile faltering as the warm sun gave way to cool air conditioning and large but enclosed spaces. The first thing he really noticed was the scent. A chemical clean scent tinted the air and he breathed it in curiously. Why did it startle him so?

Hub tapped his foot on the ground and crossed his arms as Lan asked for directions to Chaud's room. Restless energy pulsed through him. He tapped a finger on his arm and shifted stance.

Lan slowly walked back towards him. Hub was busy cataloguing all the different paths they could take and the slight scratch in the wall to his side but, it seemed that Lan barely moved every time he glanced up. It startled him slightly when Lan appeared before him, rapidly explaining which way to go and leading the way further into the hospital.

A chill went up Hub's spine as they walked through a corridor filled with doors. Patient doors. Hub could see the numbers as they went past and the smell grew weaker and stronger. It didn't matter though, it was always present and everything felt so far away. Did the ceiling have to be that high? Did there need to be so much space between the walls? They weren't so much white as they were an odd cream-like colour. Some had a tint of blue in them. Some a tint of orange.

A trickle of unease crawled along his skin. Hub chewed on his bottom lip. Should he mention something to Lan?

The longer he was here, the faster and faster his data was pulsing around his body.

There were no beeping machines in the background like on TV but there were people in uniform moving around. There were families. There was some chatter. Or was that just the rushing in his ears. How long had they been walking? It would have been nice if the walls were black and not a blinding off-white cream.

Lan glanced back. His twin was breathing heavily, eyes unfocused and arms crossed, hands clenched into fists.

"Hub?" he questioned, moving closer. "Hey." No response. He checked the PET. The data output on the screen was frozen. He pressed a few buttons but nothing happened. "Frozen?" he questioned, his stomach dropping. This hadn't happened during any of the tests. He had no idea what a frozen PET would do to a navi outside it in the physical world. Normally one would just restart the PET but, again, he had no idea what would happen with Hub frozen out here too. It could end up corrupting his data.

He looked back up at the frozen form of his brother and realised that Hub had stumbled over to the wall and was resting against it. Lan cursed as Hub slipped closer to the ground. His eyes pricked with tears as he panicked. He had no idea what to do.

* * *

Everything pressed against him. He had no idea where he was or what was happening. He couldn't breathe- he didn't need to breathe! Did he? Breathe, stop, shuddering breath, stop.

Everything was static. His hearing and vision presented him with static.

Breathe, stop. Hold. He couldn't breathe. In, out, in, out, in out, quickly compensating but everything hurt.

He wanted to move, he didn't want to move, his head hurt from his own looping thoughts.

In the static, he could make something out. A voice. Familiar. Someone's familiar voice crackled in the static. A hand squeezing his. His hand pressed to someone's chest.

He was tense. The touch crawled up his arm. He wanted to pull away and to pull closer, all at once.

The voice was still speaking. Constantly speaking, fading in and out but always like it was coming from the other end of a static-filled tunnel. Hub tensed, squeezing his hand in the short moments when sound was so loud that it was just booming noise in his head. He relaxed when it took on the soft humming nature of distant nonsense. If it would just pick one, preferably the humming nonsense in the back of his head, then he could adjust. The constant changing was making him dizzy.

His vision crackled and a face appeared in the snowy static. Brown eyes sparked with red static. A round face filling most of his vision. A face like his own?

Words crackled in the static. He stared at the face and the lips as they moved. After what felt like forever, he could finally make out a word. _Outside?_ Yeah, he wanted out of this place and it's clean, clean smell.

He pressed his other hand to the wall and slid himself back up it, resting a little against the other person. He took a couple of stumbling steps.

The sun shone, clearing away some of the static in his vision. His brother looked a little like he had stepped out of an old sepia movie. Lan's voice was soft humming in one ear. He couldn't make out a single word but that didn't matter. He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them to green and white. The world had changed.

Green faded and split into individual leaves on trees and the well-trimmed grass.

A stranger moved out of his vision, Lan thanking them for helping.

"Helping with what?" Hub mumbled, sluggish. His processes were running so slow. It was like he had tens of tens of windows open and was fishing through them all for something. It also had the effect of making him feel like he had gone a couple of rounds with Protoman and his shield.

Even the world around him was still rendering. On the white, rectangle-shaped windows popped into existence, allowing Hub to recognise it as the hospital building.

Lan breathed a sigh of relief and checked the PET with one hand, keeping his other tightly around Hub's and both pressed close to his chest. It seemed like the freeze had worn off, the programs either closing or restarting. It was still slow but an improvement over completely frozen.

Hub wondered what had happened. This was the physical world… it didn't need to 'load' or 'render'. Yet it felt like that was exactly what the world was doing.

"Is it a virus?" he questioned.

"No. The nurse said it looked like a panic attack and told me how to help you through it. I couldn't tell her you're a navi and everything just... froze." Lan gave him a serious look. "What happened?"

Hub frowned at him. "I don't know. How long…" He didn't know how to end that. How long was he freaking out? How long was the PET frozen?

"I think we were inside maybe ten minutes, I wasn't keeping track." Lan's eyes were a little too wide and his grip a little too strong. "But, um, it took us a while to get you out here and then for you to start focusing." Hub had scared him.

"How long?" Hub asked again.

"Twenty-two minutes from my noticing your freeze to you actually responding."

Hub didn't know how to respond to that. So he looked around instead. They were in what looked like a small grassy garden, surrounded by the tall buildings which made up the hospital. They were sitting on a seat, Lan sitting on the seat with his legs crossed so he could face Hub.

"We're in the outdoor area," Lan explained. "It was the closest exit."

"Do we have to go back through inside?" Hub asked softly. He really didn't want to walk back through the hospital. He didn't know what had set him off and that was more terrifying than his reaction.

Lan snorted. "I'll go back through. You can hide in the PET."

"It's not hiding!" Hub responded. He leant against his twin's chest and closing his eyes. The data of his eyes prickled and stung. "I feel really tired." His head felt like unreadable data was pulsing around in it at a different rate. A faster, more painful rate. Just what he needed to cap off this disaster, a headache.

"Whatever it was burnt through a lot of energy," Lan sighed, glancing at the PET again. At the current rate, it would take a couple more minutes until everything was back to normal levels. He wasn't letting Hub back into the PET until it was.

* * *

With data streaming around him, Megaman was finally able to fully relax. He stretched and let the PET energise him before looking out at the physical world.

"You should still visit Chaud," he said.

Lan lifted the PET up and frowned at him. "I don't know. I'd like to figure out what happened. What if it happens again?"

"I feel fine now," Megaman insisted. "Besides, Chaud'll be mad if you don't turn up."

"Uh-huh." Even though he didn't sound convinced, Lan turned around and started heading back towards where Chaud was staying. "You know he'll be out tomorrow right?"

"I think your visit is the only reason Protoman's been able to convince him to stay and not sign himself out."

Everything seemed normal as they went up and greeted Chaud and Protoman. Protoman moved over to Lan's PET to chat with Megaman while their operators just complained about work. Well, Lan complained about work while Chaud complained about the current interruption to his work.

"Hub had a panic attack?" Chaud commented, causing the two navis to freeze. Megaman had to quickly explain to Protoman what had happened, while he shot a glare at his little brother for sharing. After a moment, Chaud said, "I guess that makes sense."

"What?" the twins said in unison.

"Didn't Hub die? Pretty much as a baby? Of course he doesn't like hospitals, most of his life before was probably spent in hospitals. I wouldn't be surprised if he had died here."

The twins thought about that for a moment.

"Oh!" Lan said. "I guess that does make sense!"

"That… uh… a pleasant thought," Megaman mumbled in a soft tone which said he thought it was anything but.

"So we just have to make many, many more memories in the physical world, until they outweigh the bad," Lan decided.

Megaman opened his mouth to argue, because it probably didn't work that way, before closing it because it was futile to change Lan's mind now. It would make his brother happy anyway.

Protoman gave him a sympathetic look as Chaud attempted to dissuade Lan and failed.


End file.
